CALCUTTA, 25 August 2004 — Indian spies penetrated Tibet to size up a big glacial lake which threatened to burst and flood adjoining Himachal Pradesh this month, a leading Indian newspaper reported on Monday.
The Statesman, published from Calcutta, revealed that Indian intelligence agencies sent spies after the Chinese government persistently refused to allow Central Water Commission (CWC) officials to inspect the lake 35 km from the border.
Yang Shuying, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi, told Arab News “the [newspaper] report has been forwarded to the Foreign Ministry in Beijing”.
“I cannot say anything more until I hear from the Foreign Ministry”, said Yang.
Indian officials claim that Beijing had verbally agreed on Aug. 7 to allow the CMC team to visit the lake — formed by a melting glacier — but the written permission did not materialize despite repeated reminders by New Delhi.
Although Beijing regularly briefed the Indian side about the condition of the lake, New Delhi was not satisfied.
For first-hand information, according to the Statesman, spies were sent into Tibet by Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s premier intelligence agency, Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
These agencies recruited local traders — who usually go to Tibet in the summer with their merchandise — for the secret mission. Apparently, the spies surveyed the lake and shot pictures “with cameras hidden in sacks of wool” and returned safely dodging Chinese surveillance and anti-espionage units.
A senior DMI official told the newspaper that the data collected clandestinely is being analyzed by experts.
As the lake’s water rose dangerously this month, India evacuated 300 villages and deployed troops and Indian Air Force helicopters to tackle any emergency.
Satellite pictures showed the lake is about 38 km long, 804 meters wide and 30 meters deep.
Indian officials declared an emergency as the artificial lake pumped water into Tibet’s Perchu River which flows directly into Himachal Pradesh’s Spiti River. The Spiti ultimately merges with the Satluj, which flows into India’s rice-bowl state of Punjab.
The Tibetan Plateau in China is the principal watershed in Asia and the source of 10 main rivers.
The threat posed by the overflowing Tibet Lake forced India to shut down the 8.5 billion rupees Nathpa Jhakri hydropower project for 10 days leading to losses of 800 million rupees.
Though the 1,500-MW Nathpa Jhakri project on the Sutlej River has started functioning partially with four of its six units generating power, fears still persist of the artificial lake in Tibet bursting and wreaking havoc downstream in Himachal Pradesh.
The region is vital for India’s national security because of its strategic location on the disputed India-China border.
